PHILADELPHIA >> Rob Zepp said he felt he had to “hold the fort” for the Flyers Saturday, simply because of the precarious position with which they’ve put themselves in the Eastern Conference standings.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. >> Through driver changes, network shuffles, a new championship format and NASCAR’s push to reinvent itself, the one constant for more than two decades has been Jeff Gordon behind the wheel every week of the iconic No.

WASHINGTON >> The Flyers were trying to hang onto a one-goal lead at Verizon Center Sunday that not only defied logic but also the one-sided refereeing. That’s about when Steve Mason did what is becoming chronic — he hurt his right knee again.

VOORHEES, N.J. >> With 30 games left in their season, and nine points out of a playoff spot, the Flyers have adapted the mentality of another franchise famous for an octogenarian owner and a habit of disrupting the establishment: Just win, baby.

VOORHEES, N.J. >> To the shock of no one that heard general manager Ron Hextall’s revelation last week that winger Michael Raffl had “some fluid in his lungs,” Raffl’s recovery has now been set back by what Hextall characterized Tuesday as “a small bout of pneumonia.

PHILADELPHIA >> Nick Schultz didn’t bend a knee and pump a fist. He didn’t jump into the arms of a teammate, do a funny dance or as much as talk to the heavens. He didn’t do any of those common goal-scorer antics .

VOORHEES, N.J. >> Steve Mason played all but six minutes of the Flyers’ game Tuesday night, overtime and a shootout included. Then he wrapped his recently injured knee in ice — that, and any immediate rampaging enthusiasm.

PHILADELPHIA >> You’d think with the likes of Paul Holmgren, Ron Hextall and Craig Berube all standing around them, they’d have figured it out earlier, but either way, the Flyers finally found a remedy Tuesday night to their two-month malaise.

PHILADELPHIA >> In the wake of a 3-1 loss Saturday to the Boston Bruins that apparently caused a wave of delayed delusion to pass through the Flyers’ locker room, head coach Craig Berube summed up the sense of unshakeable confidence his team was still feeling in these first stages of the season’s second half.

VOORHEESS, N.J. >> One month. That’s probably about how long the Flyers have to turn a season around. They did it a little more than a year ago, gearing up through a December road trip and cruising from there through an impressive second half into a playoff spot.

PHILADELPHIA >> For the second time in less than a month, the Flyers are about to embark on a road trip into an uncertain future. The last time they did this, there was some rejuvenation in their play, which brought them up a notch where it matters — the standings.

PHILADELPHIA >> It could be posed as a chicken-or-egg kind of question: What came first, the Flyers’ sudden ability to have players other than Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek score goals, or coach Craig Berube’s suddenly stopping his line shuffling?

VOORHEES, N.J. >> Vinny Lecavalier has been benched for five straight games and will almost certainly make it six Saturday when the Flyers take on the Carolina Hurricanes in a 1 o’clock matinee at Wells Fargo Center.

NEW YORK >> Sad sack Saturday in New York didn’t look much different than Black Friday in Philadelphia for the Flyers, who proved once again that when it comes to them playing the Rangers, every day seems like a holiday.

Philadelphia >> After analyzing the results of Flyers-Rangers battles over the past three seasons, no one could blame Philadelphia fans for developing a defeatist attitude. Entering their Black Friday matinee against the Blue Shirts, the Flyers were 4-14-0 in their last 18 regular season meetings.

PHILADELPHIA >> It was a perfectly illustrated opportunity for the Flyers, just 4:30 into the third period, a four-minute power play presented to them as a gift. And the Flyers threw it back in their fans’ faces.

PHILADELPHIA >> Wayne Simmonds was less than thrilled at what he had been producing of late. It had been five games since he last scored a goal, and it probably wasn’t a coincidence that the Flyers were on a four-game losing streak as they commenced battle Saturday night with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

NEW YORK >> For all the earlier intrigue over whether the team captain was playing or not, as it turned out for the Flyers Wednesday night, they could have suited up Chris Pronger, Mike Richards and a young Eric Lindros and put them in with Claude Giroux.

VOORHEES, N.J. >> Injuries have robbed the Columbus Blue Jackets of their youthful moxie. Those hurtful maladies haven’t done much for what many people thought was going to be their coming of age season, either.

The first question seemed quite natural, since Scott Hartnell was on the other end of the line and stories about how the Columbus Blue Jackets got the better of the Flyers in the trade that landed Hartnell there were still circulating.

PHILADELPHIA >> While early returns would indicate Chris VandeVelde has lost his bid to stay on the Flyers’ top line, incumbent scoring forces Jake Voracek and Claude Giroux look strong enough on their own to carry the club’s campaign to another level.

PHILADELPHIA >> At first, Brayden Schenn was faked out. Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin had stepped one way, then danced by Schenn with the puck in the attack zone, and you could almost guess what was coming next.

WEST GOSHEN >> When the Downingtown middle school hockey team showed up early for its 5 o’clock game — the first game of the season — the players weren’t expecting to have a surprise guest greet them on the ice.